I intended to call this blog “Thoughtful About My Book Talk” but then decided to make it more general, because I woke up to this. It’s a review of A Stray Drop of Blood by a reviewer who contacted me to ask for a copy a few months ago. I didn’t know her at all at the time, but in the intervening weeks we’ve become friends as we connect on Facebook and our blogs, and Molly is such a sweetheart. Still, she isn’t the kind of friend that pre-dates my book, so I wouldn’t consider her a biased source. Which makes it both humbling and exhilarating to read comments like “Roseanna M. White is a 5 star author with a definite 5 star debut novel and deserves the highest of praises for the best book I have ever read to date (and I have read LOTS of great books!)!!!”

Please check out her full, oh-so-flattering review and leave a comment telling her how awesome she is. 😉

Now, my Book Talk. We had 15 people there, which filled out the little meeting room nicely. While most of the people were family or friends, 1/3 of the crowd I didn’t know, so that was a nice balance. Everyone said they really enjoyed it and could see my passion for the story and setting, that I did a great job presenting. (Thanks for that, cuz I wasn’t too sure, LOL.)

I got a few laughs, especially at the end when I was telling them about the food and my next events, so that’s always good. The food included apples, oranges, grapes, and figs--which were a treat for everyone, since most had never tried figs. Cheese. Sweet unleavened bread, which also got a few comments, and honey cake with either honey to drizzle over it or orange-flavored whipped cream. Got lots of compliments on the cake, too. =) Also had pomegranate juice and apple juice, then coffee and chamomile.

It was really cool to get to chat about the inspiration and research for the book, and interesting to hear people’s opinions on reading and that time period afterward.

Gotta say, though, the crowning moment of the night was when my oldest friend showed up. She’d driven an hour, after she got off work, and got there right after the talk finished. She was bummed to miss that part, but I was just thrilled to see her! I haven’t gotten to hug her since before Rowyn was born, so that was just . . . just . . . awesome. (Love you, Jennifer!!)

Everyone was really impressed with the sketches I’d done of the characters–and they actually came in very handy. I was telling everyone how each of the characters represented a philosophy of the era, and I could just point to them as I talked. (I knew there was a reason I spent all my spare time doing those during the snows!)

It was a fun night all around, and several of the guests said they intended to come to my book signing in a few weeks, so that’s cool.

Thanks, all, for your prayers and encouragement leading up to this!!